


Found You

by giantpanda



Series: What if... [2]
Category: The Good Doctor (TV 2017)
Genre: Canon Rewrite, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:14:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24629113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/giantpanda/pseuds/giantpanda
Summary: Upset over not being named Chief of Surgery, Neil goes to a bar alone, but ends up finding Claire.
Relationships: Claire Browne/Neil Melendez
Series: What if... [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1799092
Comments: 58
Kudos: 108





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place when Dr. Andrews decided to keep the chief position for himself. Instead of going out for drinks, with Audrey, he ends up finding Claire there. This changes their relationship. I have played around with the timeline of the show for this story.

Neil tried his best to hide his disappointment when Marcus decided to name himself the chief of surgery. With a shared look of annoyance with Audrey, he went about his day completing his scheduled surgeries and working in the ER. Thankfully, his residents seemed to realize his mood and none of them mentioned what happened. He was questioning if he wanted to stay here at the hospital if there was no room for growth. He enjoyed teaching the residents, but he wanted to advance his career as well. At the end of his shift, he decided he didn’t want to go home to an empty house and instead would stop by a bar for a drink. He thought of asking Audrey if she wanted to go, but she was still in surgery. After finishing up his paperwork, he headed out.

Looking forward to a strong drink and some noise to drown out his thoughts, he headed towards the bar. He hesitated when he realized that Claire was already there. She was sitting alone with a fancy cocktail. His whole purpose of going out was to not think about work. He also knew if anyone from the hospital saw them together, rumors would start. Rolling his eyes at himself, he went over. There was nothing wrong with two coworkers having a drink after a rough day.

He slid onto the stool next to her and he noticed her tense up.

“Hey Claire,” he said.

“Oh hi,” she sighed in relief. 

“Expecting someone else?”

“You’d be surprised how many people want to buy you a drink, even when you already have one,” she said taking a sip of her drink.

He frowned. “Has someone been bothering you?”

“Nothing I can’t handle.”

He’d seen her through all kinds of situations at the hospital so he had no doubt she could take care of herself.

“Do you want me to go?”

“No,” she shook her head, and he noticed the way her curls bounced against her shoulders.

He signaled for the bartender and ordered a whiskey. Claire made a face as he took a drink.

“What?”

“I don’t know how you drink that.”

He laughed, “Not a whiskey fan?”

“I prefer the drinks where you can’t taste the alcohol,” she held up her drink. “Want to try it?”

He grimaced, “I’ll stick to the whiskey.”

She shrugged and took a sip of her drink, smiling at him as she did. He was taken by the way her whole face lit up when she smiled. Of course, he had noticed before that she was beautiful, but as her attending he hadn’t really allowed himself to think about her like that. 

After a few minutes of silence, she asked, “Are you okay?”

“Of course,” he finished his drink, and signaled for another.

She studied him as she took another drink. He felt uncomfortable under her stare. The two of them always had a connection at work, being able to anticipate what was needed in the OR, but this felt different. He felt like she was able to read his thoughts.

“I had my money on you being named Chief.”

“Thanks.”

She leaned towards him and he caught a whiff of her perfume. “Don’t tell the others, but you are the best surgeon there.”

“Always with the flattery.”

“It’s true. You would make an excellent chief of surgery. Not only are you a gifted surgeon, but also a great mentor.”

He smiled at her, “Feel free to keep going.”

“As if your ego needs more.”

He laughed with her. Noticing her empty glass, he signaled the bartender for another.

“Thank you,” he said after a while. “I do appreciate you saying that.” He hesitated, wondering how much he should share with Claire since she was his resident. 

“But,” she prompted.

“But,” he continued. “I don’t know about staying somewhere where they play games and there is no room for advancement.”

“It’s was pretty cruel to have everyone there just to announce he was keeping the position.” She swirled her drink around. “Would you really leave?”

“I don’t know,” he sighed. “I shouldn’t be talking to you about this. I’m sorry.”

“I don’t mind. Sometimes it helps to talk about it.”

“I guess I just didn’t realize how much I wanted it until he didn’t say my name,” he admitted.

“You want to know what I think?” she asked. He watched as she brought her glass up to her mouth.

“Sure,” he said, “You’re going to tell me anyway.”

“Wait it out.”

“What do you mean?”

“Dr. Andrews will soon realize he can’t be both the president and the chief of surgery.” She motioned with her glass as she continued. “The attendings are in charge of the residents, the chief of surgery is in charge of the attendings, the president is charge of everyone. Something is going to happen, and you can’t be your own boss, you can’t do both roles properly. Where’s the accountability?”

He thought over what she said. “Good point.”

She beamed at him. “Glad you can see my brilliance.”

“I didn’t say that,” he teased.

They continued their conversation as they finished their drinks. He appreciated Claire’s insight into the situation at the hospital. She was right in that it wouldn’t work in the long run for Marcus to do both jobs. It was up to him if he was willing to wait to see what happened. At least if he waited, he’d be able to continue working with Claire. He’d worked with many of other residents, but she was the most talented and compassionate that he had worked with.

Neil signaled to the bartender for their checks and paid for both.

“Thank you,” she said softly as she placed her purse down. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Consider it a thank you for helping me talk through today.”

She smiled at him, and he was once again struck by how beautiful she was. His gaze traveled to her lips, and he had to remind himself that she was a resident. As they walked outside to their cars, they said their goodbyes and that they would see each other at work.

As he watched her drive away, for the first time since they started working together, he regretted being her boss.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next day.

The next morning, he felt more settled after having drinks with Claire. It felt better to talk it over with her than to continue to question what he should do. For now, he would take her advice and wait and see what happened. He went about his normal routine, went for a run, shower, breakfast and then headed to work.

As he entered, the hospital, he bumped into Audrey. She had a dark pair of sunglasses on and grimaced when they walked inside.

“Good morning.”

“Shut up.”

He laughed. “Looks like you had fun last night.”

“At the time alcohol seemed like the right choice to deal with Marcus,” she sighed. “I’m regretting it now.” She examined him. “You were just as upset as I was yesterday, why aren’t you hungover?”

“Some of us are just better at holding our liquor.”

She rolled her eyes. “Seriously though, you seem to be in a pretty good mood.”

“I went to the bar last night and Dr. Browne was there. She helped me realize that there is no way Marcus can do both jobs. It’s just a matter of time before one of us gets named chief.”

“You went drinking with a resident?”

“No,’ he sighed. “I went for a drink and a resident happened to be there.”

She shook her head at him. “Neil, you need to be careful. If the wrong person saw you, you could damage Claire’s career.”

“It was two coworkers having a drink. You and I do that all the time.”

“You’re not my boss.”

“Not yet,” he winked. 

He went to his office and settled in. He quickly checked his emails to see if there was anything he needed to deal with before rounds. He thought about what Audrey had said, and even though drinks had been innocent, it could easily be misconstrued. He realized that as much as he enjoyed spending the evening with Claire, he would need to be mindful of his actions. The last thing he would ever want to do was to have anyone doubt her talents.

Morgan and Claire were assigned to him for the day. Not that he would ever admit it, but Claire was his favorite resident to work with. She had the ambition to be an excellent surgeon, worked well with everyone, and fought for her patients. Morgan was competitive and driven, but she lacked the natural compassion that Claire had.

They have a mostly uneventful day, expect for one patient who is a jerk to both Morgan and Claire. Whatever they said, he dismissed them because he felt that women could not be doctors. Neil noticed that if he repeated exactly what the others said, the patient would agree to it. It was frustrating and led to an epic rant by Morgan during the surgery. Clare was surprisingly quiet. After their patient was in recovery, he went to catch up on paperwork.

As he packed up to leave, he noticed that Claire was outside on the balcony. He hesitated a moment before going out to join her. She turned as he opened the door.

“You did good today,” he said, as he leaned against the railing next to her. “I thought for sure Morgan was going to punch our patient, but you didn’t let him bother you.”

She sighed. “I’ve had worse.”

He frowned. “Do you want to talk about it?”

She shook her head. “No point dragging up things from the past but thank you.”

“I’m here if you change your mind. You helped me yesterday, I’d be happy to return the favor.”

She offered him a smile, that he noticed didn’t reach her eyes as it normally did. He wondered if maybe she wasn’t as okay about the day as he thought.

“Thank you,” she said. She moved as if to leave. “Have a goodnight, Dr. Melendez.”

“Goodnight, Claire.”

He continued to look out at the city, wondering why he had such a strong desire to follow Claire and make sure she was alright. She was his resident, he wasn’t supposed to care this much.


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three months later.

It had been three months since Marcus had named himself chief of surgery. Neil was trying to stick to Claire’s advice and wait and see what would happen, but he was getting impatient. He wanted someone to realize the disadvantage of having him serve two roles. The only good thing to come from Marcus’ decision was Neil’s growing friendship with Claire. He glanced over to where the residents where working and watched her for a moment. He found himself drawn to her more and more.

He startled when Audrey walked into his office. He realized that she had caught him staring.

Shaking her head, she sat down in the chair in front of his desk. “What are you doing, Neil?”

He glanced down at his computer and minimized his screen. While he had been looking at a new restaurant he wanted to try with Claire, he answered, “Research for my patient.”

Audrey rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”

“No I don’t.”

“You and Claire.” He opened his mouth to answer, but she continued. “Don’t tell me nothings going on. Everyone can see the connection between you two.”

“Nothing is going on,” he sighed. We’re friends. I can be her mentor and her friend.”

“Neil, if I can see something is there, so can everyone else. Is it worth all the gossip and rumors?”

“If people are gossiping about a friendship, then that’s their problem. Nothing inappropriate is going on.”

“There doesn’t have to be.” She sighed. “I just want you to be careful. The fallout of even the hint of something would be much worse for Claire than for you.”

While he knew she was right, he also wasn’t prepared to end his friendship with Claire. Sometime in the past few months, she had become very important to him.

“I understand what you’re saying, and I’ll keep it in mind.”

She stood to go. “Thank you. Claire’s a gifted surgeon, I wouldn’t want anything to complicate that for her.”

“Neither would I.”

He returned to working on his computer, or rather looking at the menu of the restaurant he thought Claire would like. He hadn’t lied to Audrey, nothing improper had happened between him and Claire. However, he would be lying to himself if he didn’t admit that he wished it would. She had quickly become the first person he wanted to see each day, and the person he wanted to talk to when he needed support or just wanted to share some good news.

If he’s being completely honest, the two of them had a connection since she started the program. Of course, he had been engaged at the time, but there was still something there between them. He should have realized their relationship was inevitable when he first crossed the line and asked her about wanting children. Even in the OR, they always worked well together. They continued to grow and build their relationship both professionally and personally.

Their relationship outside of work began when they had drinks after he wasn’t named chief of surgery. While he had figured that was a one-time thing, he was soon proved wrong. A few days after they had shared drinks, they had a patient who was adamant that they did not want their mother to be called. Because their patient was in serious condition, Morgan took it upon herself to notify the mother of her condition. As soon as the mother had entered the room, there had been yelling and screaming from the mother. After the mother left, Morgan expressed shock at how she had treated her daughter. He could still remember the heartbroken look on Claire’s face, as she told them that some people just shouldn’t be a parent. She had gone in to talk to their patient, and Neil knew she was helping comfort her after the disruption of the visit. Claire had stayed by her side as she passed away.

When he had gotten ready to leave, he had bumped into Claire. He saw the sadness on her face, and he couldn’t do nothing. He had invited her for drinks to talk about their day. At the time he reasoned that it was what a good mentor would do after a rough day, but he soon realized that if he had run into Morgan, he would not have done the same thing. It had taken Claire a while to open up to him once they were at the bar. He teased her about her fancy drinks, hoping to get a smile from her. He hated to see that she was in pain. Eventually, she shared with him more about her mother, and how she completely understood why their patient hadn’t wanted them to make that call. She wouldn’t want her mother there either. As she shared more of what she had gone through as a child, he felt his heart break. Here was the most compassionate person he had ever meet, and she had been through nothing but pain. His admiration for her grew.

After that night, they continued to meet for drinks when one of them had a rough day. Eventually, that turned into drinks for celebrations, and then dinner just because. They usually said that they had a patient or a surgery to talk about, but that discussion would be over within minutes. They continued to work together at the hospital but were also frequently seeing each other outside the hospital.

They talked about their hopes for their careers, what they wanted in their personal lives, discussed more about their pasts, and sometimes talked about nothing important at all. She became his best friend.

He hadn’t really thought about crossing the lines between friendship and something more until they had been at dinner, and after she had gotten up to use the bathroom, the waiter had asked him if his wife wanted another drink. He hesitated for a second before saying yes, he never corrected him about their relationship. That was the moment when he realized that he wished he could have more with Claire.

Neil had thought that he was doing a better job at keeping his growing feelings away from the hospital, but he knew if Audrey noticed, then he had to be more careful. He wasn’t sure what he could do. He knew that not spending time with Claire wasn’t an option. He would just need to ignore the growing feelings he had. She had given him no indication that she wanted them to be something more. However, he figured that she never would since he was still her boss.

Almost as if thinking of her had brought her to him, she walked into his office. He tried to ignore the way his heart beat faster just by seeing her. She smiled at him, and he couldn’t stop himself from returning it.

“Ms. Williams lab test came back,” she said, walking towards his desk. “It looks like the medication is working”

He took the tablet from her, ignoring the sparks he felt when his fingers brushed hers. “You were right,” he said as he skimmed the results. 

“I like it when you say that.”

He rolled his eyes, biting back a grin. “Have them run it again in three hours. If the numbers still look like this, she won’t need surgery.”

Nodding she turned to leave. He took a breath before calling her name.

“I have something I want to show you,” he said, motioning for her to come look at his computer.

She came over and stood beside him, leaning down to see the screen. He was used to having her close by in the OR, but this was different. As her hair fell forward, he had to interlace his fingers as to not reach up and brush it back.

“I thought we could go there tonight and discuss your brilliance with Ms. Williams, and they have a list of those ridiculous drinks you like.”

She offered him another one of her brilliant smiles. “One day you will try one and see what you’ve been missing.”

“Or maybe you’ll try some whiskey.”

She made a face. “Never.” She moved away from behind his desk. “When did you want to go?”

“After shift?”

“Sounds good. I’ll see you later,” she smiled at him again before she left.

Neil sank back into his chair. He was treading dangerous ground, but as long as he never told her about his feelings, everything should be fine. He would rather they continue to just be friends than to risk losing her from his life.


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The quarantine in the ER makes it harder for Neil to hide his feelings.

A few days later, Neil was working with Claire on their patient who needed a bone marrow transplant. While Alex was also part of their team, he was distracted by the arrival of his son. While Neil, enjoyed having Alex on their team as well, he was happy to just be with Claire now. They had gotten everything ready for their patient, Chris, however, his father had not shown up yet to be able to do the transplant.

They were in his office trying to figure out what they would do if his father did not show up. Having already begun the preparations for the transplant they did not have much time to develop their plan. 

“Do you think maybe his father didn’t know where to go so he went to the ER?” she asked.

“That seems like a stretch. Even if he went here someone would have directed him to us.”

“Maybe it’s busy and he hasn’t asked anyone. I could go down really quick and check.”

“If you want to waste your time.”

She smiled at him. “You just don’t want me to be right.”

“I think it’s very unlikely for him to just be sitting in the waiting room.”

“I bet you he is.”

“What’s the bet?” he asked crossing his arms.

She bit her lip. “How about if I’m right, you have to go to karaoke with me?”

He made a face. “You really don’t want me to sing.”

“Could be fun.”

“Since you’re not right, I’ll take that bet. What about when I win?”

“If you win,” she smiled again. “You get to pick what we do.”

He glanced down at her lips, thinking about what he would really like for them to do. Quickly pushing those thoughts away, he said, “Bowling.”

She stood up to leave, “I can’t wait to hear you sing.”

He laughed, “And I look forward to beating you at bowling.”

He shook his head as she left. He doubted that she would find Chris’ father in the ER, but he knew it would make her feel better. She hated the idea that their patient was going to be disappointed once again by his father. He knew that she was thinking about all the times that she had been let down by her mother. He worried about her tendency to get too involved with her patients, but overall it seemed to make her a better doctor.

Neil sat down at his desk to begin researching alternative ideas. They needed to figure out a back up plan to save their patient’s life. After writing down a few possibilities, he realized that it had been a while since he heard from Claire. He wanted to run these ideas by her to get her input. His phone rang and was relieved to see her name.

“So, bowling or karaoke?” he asked as he answered the phone.

“Karaoke,” she answered, “But we have another problem.”

“What’s wrong?”

“They put the ER on lockdown.”

“Why?” he asked as he stood up from his desk. He wanted to go down to the ER immediately and get her out of there.

“I don’t know all the details yet,” she said. “They think it is an airborne virus and they have quarantined the ER.”

“And they won’t let you leave.”

“No, I’m going to see what Dr. Lim needs me to do to help,” she said. “Chris’ father was in the waiting room, but they won’t let him leave either. And we would have to make sure he wasn’t sick. We can’t give potentially compromised bone marrow.”

He sighed. “No, we can’t. How will you know if he’s been infected?”

“Dr. Lim said that the symptoms happen fairly quickly.” She said something to someone else that he couldn’t make out. “They need my help with a patient. Can you tell Chris that his father did come?”

“Of course,” he answered. “You just be careful.”

“I will,” she said before hanging up.

He took a deep breath and told himself that Claire would be fine. In a few hours she would be torturing him with karaoke. Pushing his concerns aside, he went to fill in their patient on what happened. He promised to keep searching for a way to have the transplant. 

He returned to his office and started reviewing his ideas. He needed Claire to be there with him. They worked so well together, he knew she would be able to help him come up with a plan. He wished now that he had fought her on going down to the ER or had gone with her. It wouldn’t have helped their patient, but it would have made him feel better to be by her side. The hardest part was the fact that he knew Claire would do anything to help the patients who had caught the virus, putting herself at risk as well.

Unable to make any progress on what to do for their patient, Neil decided to find out more information on what was happening in the ER. He walked down to Marcus’ office and took a deep breath before walking in. As Marcus was on the phone, he walked over to the table where he had been taking notes. He saw that they already had three deaths.

Marcus hung up the phone. “That was Audrey. Dr. Browne has been infected.”

Neil shook his head in disbelief. It hadn’t been that long ago since he had talked to her. It wasn’t possible. 

“What are they doing for her?” he asked, struggling to keep his emotions at bay.

Marcus sighed. “They’re still trying to figure it out.”

He took a few deep breaths so he wouldn’t betray his feelings for her. He needed for them to take care of her.

“They’re doing everything they can for her.” Marcus wiped his hand across his face. “I thought she was on your rotation today.”

“She was,” he answered feeling guilty that he hadn’t stopped her from going down to the ER. “We have our transplant patient, she went down to see if his father had gotten confused about where to go.”

“Was he there?”

“Yes, but we can’t do the transplant if he’s been compromised, and we can’t get him out of the ER either.”

“You go see if you can figure out how to help your patient. I’ll let you know about any updates.”

The last thing Neil wanted to do was leave this room. He wanted to know immediately that Claire was going to be okay. However, he also had a responsibility to his patient.

Once back in his office, he took a minute to allow himself to give into his feelings. Resting his head in his hands, he thought about all that he had missed out on by keeping his feelings for Claire locked away. He thought of all the time they had spent together and how much she meant to him. He needed her to survive. He could finally admit to himself that he was in love with her. He just hoped that he would get the opportunity to tell her.

He pushed his worry aside and picked up his notes about what to do for their patient. Reading through them he quickly crossed them out. He couldn’t see how they could do the transplant.

His phone rang, and he quickly picked it up when he saw that it was Audrey.

“How’s Claire?” he asked.

“She wanted to talk to you. She thought of something for your patient.”

He shook his head, of course she would still be trying to save someone else when she was sick.

“I’m going to put the video on so you can talk to her,” Audrey said.

He took a minute to look at her. He felt like his heart was breaking. She looked small lying in the hospital bed, she was pale, and her eyes lacked their normal sparkle. He knew immediately that she was in pain, as he watched as she struggled to breath.

“You know if you wanted to work with Dr. Lim, you could’ve just told me,” he said trying to get a smile.

She laughed which quickly turned into a cough. He winced. He wished he could be beside her comforting her and taking care of her.

Taking a deep breath, she said, “What if you do the transplant here?”

“In the ER?”

“In the supply closets,” she paused to take a breath. “They have different ventilation.”

He could see that she was struggling to keep her eyes open as she talked to him. 

“I’ll figure out the rest. You concentrate on getting better.”

She smiled at him. “Don’t take credit for my brilliant idea.”

He took a deep breath to keep his tears at bay. “I’ll make sure they know it was your idea.”

“My brilliant idea,” she said as she closed her eyes. 

“Dr. Browne,” he said, unable to keep the concern from his voice. “Claire?”

Audrey turned the camera around, “She’s just resting.”

“How bad is it?”

“We won’t give up.”

He closed his eyes. There was a very good chance that this would be the last time that he would see Claire.

“Neil, I’ll take care of her. You go and worry about your patient.”

“Thanks,” he said as he hung up the phone.

He took a moment to get himself back together. He wiped away the tears that he hadn’t realized had fallen. He would make sure that he followed through with her idea. He went to Marcus and explained what Claire had in mind. After looking at the blueprints for the hospital, they found a location that would work. Alex and a nurse would extract the bone marrow, and Neil would do the transplant. He lost track of time as they worked and prayed that Claire would be okay when they were done. Their patient was able to get the bone morrow, but unfortunately, his father had a heart attack and died.

Exhausted and drained, he got Chris settled back into his room. He needed to find Marcus or Audrey to see what was going on in the ER and if Claire was okay.

As he walked towards Marcus’ office, he ran into an exhausted Audrey. He searched her face for any clue about how Claire was doing.

“She made it,” she said. “She’s in the ICU for now. She’s going to need a few weeks for recovery.”

He sighed in relief. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, there’s nothing going on between you two,” she said shaking her head.

“Nothing has, but I wouldn’t mind if it did,” he finally admitted.

“We’re getting drinks later and you’re going to tell me everything.”

“Okay,” he agreed, although he should probably share his feelings with Claire before talking to someone else.

She hesitated, “Claire asked me to tell you something if she didn’t make it.” 

“What?” 

“She survived so I don’t have to tell you, but I will say that these feelings you keep ignoring, they aren’t one sided.”

“Thank you,” he said softly, relieved to know that Claire felt the same way. “You get some rest.”

“I will.”

He went to the ICU to see Claire. He stood in the doorway for a moment watching her. She was sound asleep. She was still pale, but her breathing was much better than when he had seen her earlier. He sank down into the chair beside her bed and gently took her hand. He sat there watching her sleep, grateful that he would now get a chance to tell her how much she meant to him.


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They talk after Claire wakes up.

Neil sat by Claire’s bedside gently running his thumb back and forth against her hand. He was grateful that she had survived. He knew that he could no longer hide his feelings from her, but he wasn’t sure the right way to tell her. He knew that she had shared something with Audrey about how she felt, but he didn’t know exactly what it was.

She squeezed his hand and he looked up to see she was awake. 

“Hey,” she said softly offering him a smile. Despite her smile, he could see her exhaustion.

He smiled back at her. “How are you feeling?”

“Did the transplant work?” she asked ignoring his question.

He shook his head. “Always worried about everyone else.” He glanced down at their intertwined fingers. “We were able to do the transplant. Chris is in recovery.”

“What about his father?” she asked.

“He had a heart attack after the procedure,” he said. “He didn’t make it.”

Her eyes filled with tears. “Was it my fault?”

“Your fault?” he asked incredulously. She had been fighting for her life during the transplant.

“I gave you the idea to do the surgery in the ER. Would he have survived if it had been done in the OR?”

“I don’t know,” he answered honestly. As much as he wanted to take away her pain, he would never lie to her. “But if we hadn’t done it there, Chris would be dead. According to Alex, his father wanted to do whatever he could to make up for not being there for him.”

She sighed. He squeezed her hand gently wishing he could do more to comfort her. “Now, how are you?” he asked.

“I’m fine.”

He gave her a look of disbelief. “You’re fine?”

She rolled her eyes. “Better than earlier.”

He reached out and gently caressed her face. “Claire, how are you feeling?”

With a sigh, she said, “I feel like I was hit by a truck while hungover.”

“And that’s better?”

“Much,” she answered. “I’m really glad you’re here.”

“Me too.” He took a deep breath. “Claire, I…”

He was interrupted by his phone. Annoyed he looked to see that he was being paged to Marcus’ office.

“I have to go,” he said reluctantly. “We can talk more when I get back.”

He stood to leave. He didn’t want to let go over her hand. He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. She smiled up at him.

“Get some rest, I’ll be back later.”

“I’ll be here.”

She closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep. He stood there for a minute watching her. He was so grateful that they would have more time. He left to go to Marcus’ office.

He knocked on the door, wondering why Marcus wanted to see him.

“Come in,” Marcus called.

Neil entered his office and took a seat.

“Neil,” he began. “How long did you think you would be able to hide it?”

Confused, he asked, “Hide what?”

“Your relationship with Dr. Browne,” Marcus sighed. “How long has it been going on?”

“I’m not in a relationship,” he answered. To himself he added the word yet, he was hoping for a different outcome after he could talk to Claire.

“Lying about it, will just make this worse.”

“I’m not,” he said. “Nothing improper has ever happened.”

“Really?” Marcus asked unable to hide his surprise.

“Did you call me in here to talk about my non-existent relationship with Claire?”

“Neil, I’ve known you a long time. We have worked together on many emergencies. I have never seen you as terrified as when I told you that Claire was sick.”

He couldn’t argue with him. He thought he had done a better job of masking his feelings.

“Where were you when I paged you?” he continued.

With a sigh, Neil answered, “I was checking on Claire.”

“So, you are not yet in relationship, but I have feeling that will change soon. Near death experiences have a way of bringing out the truth.” Marcus continued, “Of course, it’s not an ideal situation, but we should be able to find a way to make it work.”

Neil couldn’t hide his disbelief. “Really?”

“Like I said, I’ve known you a while. You wouldn’t risk your career or that of a promising resident if it wasn’t serious. You will no longer be able to be her attending and you both will have to eventually go to HR. But with her needing a few weeks off to recover, that should give you both time to decide what you want.”

“Thank you,” he said softy, still stunned to have his support.

“I don’t know how much Audrey or Claire have told you about what happened in the ER, but my understanding is that we came dangerously close to not having this discussion.”

Neil nodded. He didn’t know all the details yet but had known how close he came to saying goodbye. He realized how bad it must have been for Marcus to be giving them his support.

“Life’s short,” Marcus continued. “I don’t want you both to miss out on happiness.”

“I appreciate it.”

They spoke a little more about the events of the day and the logistics of removing Claire from his rotation. It was a much different conversation from the last time he had barred her from working with him.

Once they were finished, he went down to the cafeteria to get something to eat before returning to Claire’s room. He grabbed a piece of her favorite cake too. He felt uncomfortable that he had sat with Marcus discussing her future without her there and hoped she would understand.

As he entered her room, he was surprised to see the number of flowers that surrounded her. He hadn’t thought he had been gone that long.

“It seems your room has turned into a florist while I was gone,” he said, placing the cake on her table and taking a seat beside her. “You’re pretty popular.”

She smiled. “You know if you were in this bed, there would be even more flowers and probably people lined up at the door offering to take care of you.”

He laughed. “I’m sure there are people who want to do that for you too.” He reached out and took her hand. “But that job is already taken.”

Claire glanced down at their hands and then looked to the door. He could see the uncertainty in her eyes.

“Do you want me to let go?” he asked softly.

“No,” she said squeezing his hand. 

He looked down at their intertwined fingers and took a shaky breath. “Claire, when I thought I could lose you,” he paused to get himself together. “When I thought I was never going to see you again.” He gazed into her eyes. “It made me realize how much you mean to me.” 

She reached up and caressed his face, wiping away a tear that he hadn’t realized had fallen. “Me too.”

“Apparently, I did a really bad job hiding my concern for you,” he said. “Marcus asked me how long we have been in a relationship.”

“What did you say?”

“That we weren’t in one.” He thought he saw a flash of disappointment in her eyes. “But,” he continued, “I was hoping that would change.”

“I would like that,” she answered as a smile lit up her face.

He returned her smile. He was relieved to know they were on the same page.

“Marcus already made a plan for us.”

“That was fast.”

“I won’t be your attending anymore,” he said. “We will have to go to HR in a few weeks once you come back to work.”

She frowned. “I’m not missing weeks of work.”

Of course, she wasn’t worried about their visit to HR, but instead of being away from the hospital.

He caressed her face, “You almost died today,” he said, his voice breaking. “You’re going to take time off to recover.”

“A few days, not weeks.”

“The doctors not in the hospital bed get to make that decision.” She glared at him, causing him to laugh. “You are going to be a horrible patient, aren’t you?”

He knew that it would be difficult for her not to be at the hospital, but it was more important that she took care of herself. They needed to make sure that there were no lasting effects from what she had gone through. He looked forward to being the one who got to take care of her, even if he drove her crazy.

“I’ll try not to be.” She squeezed his hand again. “This isn’t going to get you out of our bet. That can be our first date.”

“We’ve been dating for months. We just didn’t want to admit it.”

“I guess we have,” she smiled. “Then it will be our first official date.”

“I can’t wait.”

He was excited to see what would happen now that they were able to explore an actual relationship. He wanted to tell her that he loved her but didn’t want to overwhelm her after what she had been though. They now had plenty of time.


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A conversation after a rough day.

Claire had been required to stay in the hospital for a week so they could monitor her progress and make sure that they were no lingering side effects from her illness. She hated it, but he was relieved. As he learned more of what she had gone through, and just how close he had come to losing her, he was glad to have her close by to keep an eye on her. However, he could see her getting anxious, and he spoke to Marcus to include her in some of their cases. They were also careful about their new relationship. While he had drinks with Audrey and shared the change in their relationship, and Marcus knew, they were keeping things quiet as they figured it out. 

When it was time for her to released, he had asked if she would like to come to his place to continue her recovery. There seemed to be no lasting effects other than weakness and exhaustion. It would take her some time to build her strength back up. She had shyly asked him if he would mind if they went to her place because after spending a week in the hospital, she really wanted her own bed. He was glad that she invited him to go with her. He wasn’t ready to let her out of his sight. They had made a quick stop at his house before he drove them to hers. She was frustrated that she was exhausted simply from walking from the car to her apartment.

While she had gone to bed to rest, he had realized that she didn’t have any groceries and went out to purchase things for them. When he returned and saw she was still asleep, he started on dinner. When it was in the oven, he took the opportunity to walk around her living room and examine all the pictures and knickknacks that she had laying around. He looked forward to asking Claire to share about all the memories from the pictures. He noticed her guitar in the corner and hoped that she would play for him. As he had went to check on their dinner, she had come up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He had put his hands against hers, grateful that he could now touch her whenever he wanted. He no longer had to hide his feelings from her.

Over the next few days, he had stayed with her. They had talked more about what they wanted in their relationship and had agreed that they would talk to HR sooner rather than later. Neither wanted to hide what they felt for each other. He continued going to work as she stayed home. He would come home and share some of his cases with her. She would be returning to work soon, and he knew that it would be an adjustment, but he had faith that they could do it.

The first few nights they stayed at her apartment, and then went to his. He hadn’t had anyone else in his space for a long time, but it felt natural to have Claire there. As she was building up her strength, they were taking things slowly. For now, they simply enjoyed being in each other’s company as they learned more about each other. The change from being just friends to something so much more was the easiest thing he had ever done.

After a rough day at work, he was looking forward to sharing what happened with Claire and relaxing on the sofa with her in his arms. Audrey had been named the new chief of surgery and he wanted to tell Claire that she had been right about Marcus being unable to do both. He was uncertain how he felt about the position going to Audrey. He was happy for her, and it was well deserved, but he was also disappointed that he hadn’t been named.

As he walked in, he dropped his things by the door and walked towards the living room. He smiled when he saw Claire curled up on the sofa reading. He went to sit beside her and drew her into his side. He kissed her.

“How was your day?” she asked.

He ran his fingers up and down her arm. “I get to tell you something you love to hear.”

“What’s that?” She sat up so she could look at him.

“That you were right.”

Her face lit up when she smiled. “I’m always right,” she laughed. “Are you going to tell me what I was right about this time?”

“There was a review of what happened during the quarantine. They told Marcus that he can’t be both president and chief.”

“Took them long enough.” She placed her hand against his arm. “When are they going to announce his replacement?”

“They already did. Audrey was named.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m happy for her, but…”

“You wanted it.” She moved away from him. “Was it because of us?”

He hesitated to answer her. The thought had crossed his mind. It was one thing for an attending to have a relationship with a resident but being chief of surgery would cause additional issues. But if Marcus had given him a choice between chief and his relationship with Claire, there was no contest.

She took his silence of agreement. She stood up and moved away from the sofa.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, her eyes filling with tears. “I’m not worth you giving up everything you’ve worked so hard for.”

He quickly closed the distance between them. He brought his hands up to her face and used his thumbs to wipe away her tears. “You are worth everything.” He rested his forehead against hers. “Don’t you ever doubt that.”

She fought back a sob as he pulled her into his arms. He ran his hand up and down her back to comfort her. After a few minutes she pulled away so she could look at him, keeping her arms around his waist.

“I love you,” she said, her voice quivering.

He wiped away another tear. “I love you too,” he said his voice breaking.

Despite the tears still shining in her eyes, her smile took his breath away. He leaned forward and captured her lips with his. He led her back towards the sofa. As they settled on the sofa, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Neil had no idea what the future would bring, but as long as she was by his side, he knew it would be amazing. He was so grateful that he had found Claire that night in the bar. It was the start of an incredible journey.

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone for reading and those who left feedback! I greatly appreciate it!! I struggled a little with how to end this one, so I hope you enjoy it.


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